The Locket
by Milieva
Summary: Clef goes before the Cephirian council taking with him a source of strength.


The Locket

By Milieva

Clef lifted the small piece of jewelry from its place upon his bed stand. The chain slid delicately through his fingers as he gazed upon the worked metal as if it held his future. Running his thumb over the catch, it popped open in his palm. Today he did not even smile at the photographs that once made him laugh out right. He could not recall for the life of him what he and Umi had been arguing about that day, but he did know that Hikaru had been brave to get up close enough to get that shot. But of all the images the water knight could have chosen for this gift, these rang the most truth about their volatile relationship.

"Give me strength." The mage whispered to the flushed knight in his palm as he snapped the locket shut and slipped the chain around his neck, tucking the pendent deep into his robes so it hung against the skin over his heart.

Taking a deep breath, Clef rose off the edge of the his bed, His hands shuttered violently as he put them against the door frame to steady himself and reorganize what little courage he could muster. The plates of his robes became stone over his weakened shoulders. The mage gasped for breath as the leaden doors finally swung open into the corridor. The distance to the assembly hall seemed to have more than tripled in the time it had been since the last council meeting. Even if his mind knew her did not face his death today, his heart told him otherwise. If banishment was pronounced, that would be a fate far worse than death, for without Umi, he could never survive.

The cool touch of the warming metal swayed lightly against his chest with every foot fall, giving him just enough strength to put that next foot out. As the seconds ticked by like hours, Clef haggardly made his way down the darkened corridor that led to his awaited doom.

Even though he knew it was coming, the sudden brilliance of the chamber blinded him and threw him off balance just as it was intended to do. His unconscious step back caused the pendant to thump hard against his chest, reminding him why he was here. Silently he made his way to the center of the lower floor. One of the guards requested him to state his name and rank. He barely heard the words over the pounding of his own heart, yet in a voice betraying none of the anxiety her felt, the mage answered.

"Clef. Supreme Yil. Second Council Chair."

Finally adjusting to the light, Clef made out the man standing above him on the podium. He was roughly the age of the prince give or take a decade. His dark blue, almost black, hair was pulled harshly from his face. In a pretense of authority, he gazed down at his former master with contempt in his eyes.

The mage felt sick. Of anyone who would act on what seemed to be mere rumor, Clef never would have guessed it to be one of his former pupils. Alcyone may have turned on him near her end, but she at least had love as a motive, and he understood that, but Vaspasian? This was one of his most promising students; he had even been selected to participate in the Upper Council years before he was fully eligible.

"Do you understand the charges brought before you?"

Clef took a deep breath, the breast plate of his robes pushed the locket closer gains his chest, giving him strength. "Yes, I understand my charges."

"And how do you plead before the council?"

The mage raised his eyes to meet those of his former student, who involuntarily too a step back for what he saw in his master's eyes.

"I state that I am guilty of no crime."

With a loud thump, Vaspasian set the heavy book of Cephirian law on the podium. There was a short rustling of paper as he flipped to the appropriate section. "The law clearly states-"

"Do not lecture me from a book transcribed by_ my_ hand before your mother even _thought_ of your existence." Clef spoke with a low even tone of annoyance. His spiritual strength was returning. If he student thought that by putting him out of the way that he could take his position, he had another thing coming.

Vaspasian waited patiently for Clef to finish his short rant and continued. "No member of the inner court may, by any other means that post removal, take a spouse. Official members of the inner court include-"

"Dal, Ile, Sol, Yil. I know this already. It thought we covered that fact."

One of the elder council members stood and addressed the Supreme Yil. "A prisoner shall not rebuke his trying council member in that fashion."

Clef spun to face the owner of the offending comment. His tone did not waver for a moment. "And when did I become a prisoner?"

"You may not be a prisoner yet, but that can be arranged for future outbursts."

The mage scoffed and returned his attention on Vespasian. "I never thought you would ever want my post and position so badly that you would go to any lengths. I am no fool. And I know you are not one either, so why do you think that this will work?"

"I do not want you post. I want to see justice done to those who break the ancient laws."

"Antiquated laws." Clef corrected. "I am the only surviving member of the 'Inner Court'. Thus the law only applies to me. I do not see any reason for its existence."

A low murmur ran through the levels of the Council. Had they really over looked such an important detail? Was the mage telling the truth about the laws? After all, he was the most recent one to transcribe an official copy of the text.

Vespasian only glared at his former master. None of the doubt the others felt even crossed his mind. "And still you are guilty of treason."

"For letting a woman into my bed? That is rather silly isn't it?"

"For _taking_ a woman to your bed. I do not believe that a girl as young as the Magic Knight of Water, would willingly give herself to an ancient mages such as yourself."

The fire behind Clef's eye's frightened his former student, but the man refused to let it show. "Now are you changing my charge?"

"You are a disgrace to the post of Yil."

"You are a disgrace to your master, and this body."

"At least I have the decency to follow the rules set forth for my position."

Taking a large step forward, Clef called his staff to his hand. Vaspasian shrank back, doubting in the rooms charm against magic use. He was visibly shaken by the mage's sudden action. Clef smiled inwardly at his student's reaction, and took another step forward and addressed the entire council.

"I see that it would be impossible to reason with you, as you seem so very caught up in how Cephiro _used_ to be run." Clef cast his staff to the ground, wrenching the cornet off his head, he threw it away as well. The ring on his hand joined the pile as he then grasped at the clasps of his robes and threw the heavy cloth aside, and stood before the council in nothing but his inner robes. "I am nothing but a man, who loves a woman. And she shall bear a child before the next season is out. Whether you like her to or no."

The mage spun on heel and walked calmly out of the assembly hall, as silently as he had come in. His hand reflexively reached for the lump under his tunic. Such a small piece of metal had given him a great amount of courage. Enough courage to step aside and let the upper members learn what it takes to run the council. They would come crawling on their hands and knees for him to return within the next few months.

Clef felt oddly naked without his heavy robes on. It was rather un-nerving to walk through the corridors like this. What if someone saw him? It would raise an awful lot of questions. Upping his pace a little, the mage followed the shortest way to his bed chambers. The door was still partially open when he approached. 'It must be "Saturday"' he thought idlely as he pulled the door open to find Umi fast asleep in his bed. She was still fully clothed, her hand clutching a book the other resting on her swollen belly. Her suit case rested at the foot of his bed. The audience had not been that long, she must have arrived just as he was leaving.

As carefully as he could, so not to wake her up, Clef changed Umi into her nightgown and covered her with the blanket. She looked so peaceful. Why couldn't she be like this all the time? She was even more violent toward him, pregnant than she had been before. Changing into his own sleeping gown, Clef climbed into bed and pulled the locket back off over his head, and opened the small pendent. He smiled at the Umi in his hand. It would be best for him to go to sleep. There was no telling how the water knight would take the news of his sudden resignation.

FIN

This was my fic for MKRContest over at LiveJournal. It won best over for the week. More or less, it is a little side story for Wish I had an Angel. I know I haven't upated my fics too teribly often, but I try when I can. I have laso been writning fo the 30 Lemons challenge and have those fics posted in the Definitely Not tokyo archive as they are of too high a rating to be posted here. The url to DNT is rayearth(dot)psynos(dot)net.


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